How do I code blank Smartcards?

Question

In my schoolproject i got a blank smartcard and a reader (I think it can write too) - Gemalto IDBridge CT40 is the reader - and now I have to find a way to write on this smartcard and I have absolutely no Idea where to start. I got a Software (Gemclub Memo-Module) and I can't find any tutorials or something for this. In the end it should be possible to authenticate with this smartcard. Can you maybe tell me where I should start? how do I communicate with this smartcard how to write on it? Or which things I have to learn to communicate with it?

Thank you Patrick

Answer 1

You can find good help in help file installed with gemalto SDK. Please visit this link for step-by-step explaination of how to use gemalto 510 cards with visual studios this might help you.

Answer 2

What you've got is not really a smart card. It's a secure memory card; you cannot upload a program to it or anything like that. Pretty basic stuff. The characteristics are mentioned here.

The card communicates with T=0 which has been standardized in the ISO 7816-3 specifications. This means you can send APDU's to the card. You would communicate the same way with a smart card that can be programmed. You can communicate using any software that is PCSC compatible as your smart card reader is PCSC (PC to Smart Card interface) compatible.

In the end this card uses a proprietary GemPlus interface, so you should try and get help from that company. You can find the manual online without too much fuss (although it is copyright protected, so beware). If the card is in an issuer mode you should be able to send the right commands to it without authentication.

For C# you could look at this article. For Java you could dive into javax.smartcardio to program a card through a PCSC compatible interface.